Politics
2023: Atiku Dumps Makinde For Adeleke, Ignores Wike, Others
The hope of a truce between Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and the aggrieved five governors before next year’s poll has collapsed.
A crucial meeting in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, between the two sides, which their representatives described as final, broke down following irreconcilable differences.
After the talks broke down, the presidential standard bearer decided to look beyond the aggrieved governors and their allies.
Atiku has replaced Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde with Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke as the Coordinator of his Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in the Southwest.
A proposal by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, who represented Atiku, that the yearnings of the G-5, otherwise known as the Integrity Group, will be taken care of after the election, was rejected by the governors, led by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.
At the meeting were Samuel Ortom (Benue), Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).
The Adamawa governor had pleaded with his colleagues to make a further sacrifice by focusing more on the election instead of insisting on their conditions for a truce.
The G5 governors and other allies, who had insisted that the national chairman, Senator Iyiocha Ayu, should resign, stood their ground, saying that their core demand was non-negotiable.
Ahead of the presidential primary in Abuja, Ayu had promised to step down if a northerner was picked as flagbearer.
However, the chairman, who reneged on his promise, was backed by Atiku who explained that the provisions of the party constitution on the choice and removal of the chairman should be followed.
A party source said that Wike, who spoke on behalf of G-5, said they would neither participate in the PDP presidential campaigns nor lend any support for Atiku in their respective states ahead of the poll.
According to the source, pleas by Fintiri and other party leaders to the aggrieved governors to sheath their swords and retrace their steps fell on deaf ears.
Also, both sides are bracing up for the reality that PDP will go into the election as a divided house.
The source added: “Both sides, those representing Atiku and the G-5, tended to believe that that may be the last reconciliation meeting aimed at resolving the conflict.
“The only concession that Fintiri could guarantee on behalf of Atiku was that the five governors should wait till when the candidate wins before the national chairman can resign.
“As usual, G-5 rejected the proposal and maintained their ground that Ayu should go.”
Following the breakdown of what looked like a final peace move, the former vice president has decided to continue with his campaigns across the country without the involvement of the Integrity Group.
He has reached out to his old allies in the five states, particularly those who are not on the same page with the aggrieved governors and drafted them to his zonal and state campaign structures.
The change of mobilisation tactics by Atiku has further pitted him against Makinde, Ortom, Ikpeazu, Ugwuanyi and Wike, who have turned the heat on chieftains being recruited by Atiku into his campaign from the respective states
In the Southwest, Atiku has dumped Makinde and opted for Adeleke as regional coordinator.
The source said: “Alhaji Atiku is bypassing Governor Makinde. He has appointed Adeleke as Southwest Campaign Coordinator. Adeleke will coordinate activities in Southwest from Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
“He is also wooing his old friends and other chieftains who are fanatical supporters of the PDP across the six states.”
On what is likely to be Makinde’s next step, the source said: “Governor Makinde is campaigning for a second term.
“He is consolidating his PDP base.”
When contacted, PDP campaign spokesman declined comment.
The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, has initiated impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Ngozi Odu, issuing them a seven-day notice to respond to allegations of gross misconduct.
The Assembly cited eight specific allegations of gross misconduct as the basis for the move.
This is the third time Fubara and Odu would be facing impeachment proceedings from the Assembly since coming to office in 2023.
Attempts to impeach them in 2023 and 2025, amid political feuds between the Governor and his predecessor and erstwhile political god-father, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had been halted by presidential intervention.
Here are the allegations below:
1. Reckless and unconstitutional expenditure of public funds
2. Unconstitutional misappropriation of public funds
3. Hindering the Rivers Assembly from performing its constitutional duties
4. Illegal appointments of persons without screening by the House of Assembly as provided by the Constitution
5. Seizure of salaries and funds meant for Assembly members
6. Seizure of salaries of the clerk of the Rivers House of Assembly, Emeka Amadi
7. Refusal to implement provisions of the Constitution on financial autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary
8. Withholding of funds meant for the running of the Rivers House of Assembly Service Commission and hindering its activities
Lilian Adebayo, the wife of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, has said that the party will unseat the ruling All Progressive Party at the 2027 election if Nigerians are true to themselves.
Mrs Adebayo made this assertion known on Wednesday during an interview with journalists after an event in Abuja.
According to her, the opposition party has overcome its crisis after the expulsion of its former chairman, Shehu Gabam and others.
She said Nigerians should vote the APC out in the 2027 general election due to the hardship the party has plunged citizens into.
“There is always a crisis in the party; the SPD has been able to handle its own. The problems in the party have been resolved.
“He has a great chance of winning the election if Nigerians are honest with themselves. If Nigerians think that the ones they consistently vote for would move the country forward, they live in denial,” she concerning the husband.
Recall that SDP recently expelled Gabam and other party executives.
The party’s state chairmen on Wednesday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the police to investigate Gabam over alleged misappropriation.
In a significant political move, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Mbah announced his decision during a televised broadcast in Enugu after weeks of speculation.
He said, “Today, after a long reflection, we have made the decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party and join the All Progressives Congress.”
Mbah explained that his decision to join the PDP was informed by the need to reshape Enugu and reorganise the politics of the state.
“Today, I stand before you to announce a break from the past and to share a decision that will shape the road ahead. This concerns our values, how we organize ourselves politically and how we secure the future of our project and our people.
“Leadership sometimes demands painful decisions in the service of higher principles and goals. And there comes a time, when everyone must make a bold choice to determine their destiny.”
Ahead of the governor’s defection, all members of his cabinet had on joined the ruling party.
Governor Mbah’s Senior Media Aide, Dan Nwomeh, confirmed the mass defection in a video posted on his social media handles on Monday. In the video, several government officials were seen openly declaring their allegiance to the APC, chanting praises for President Bola Tinubu and affirming their commitment to the new party.
“Enugu State Cabinet Members join the APC with full chest along with Governor PN Mbah,” Nwomeh stated.
The officials, including commissioners and top aides, could be heard in the video declaring, “We are now in APC; tomorrow is here; it is APC all the way; it is Jagaban all the way; from top to bottom.”
The collective defection marks a significant political shift in Enugu State, which has been a PDP stronghold since 1999.
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